Batting

Cambridge, Mass. – The Framingham State University softball team stayed alive in the 2018 NCAA Division III Softball Tournament with an 8-4 win over UMass-Boston in an elimination game on day two of the Cambridge Regional.

With the win, Framingham State improved to 25-16 and will play No. 18 Tufts in another elimination game at 2:30 p.m., while UMass-Boston sees its season come to a close with a record of 17-25.

Framingham State starter Kelsi Gunarathne (Providence, RI) improved to 16-7 in the circle for the Rams as she went seven innings and allowed five hits, four runs (three earned), three walks and struck out three to keep their season alive, while Jess Greenspan (12-16) took the loss for UMass-Boston on 2.2 innings, ten hits, eight runs (three earned), two walks and one strikeout.

Offensively, the Rams got two RBI apiece from sophomore Mycala Moody (North Attleboro, Mass.), freshman Grace Caughey (Mendon, Mass.) and classmate Camille Desrochers (Westford, Mass.), while senior Dayna Marchant (East Bridgewater, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with one run and an RBI at the top of Framingham State's lineup.

Five different student-athletes from UMass-Boston posted one hit highlighted by a two-RBI performance by Alyssa Tulley.

The Beacons struck for the game's first run in the top of the first inning when Gigi Braga knocked in Kelly Danahy on a two-out bases loaded infield single. Danahy reached first on an error, moved to second when Roxanne Vento was hit by a pitch and to third after Taylor Pawlina reached on an error.

Framingham State waited until the bottom of the second to answer, but the Rams answered in a big way with a five-run inning. With two outs, Desrochers drove in both sophomore Kayley Reese and senior Anna Dziok (Southampton, Mass.) on a single to center and then scored herself on a single through the right side by Moody. After senior Megan Downing (Hanson, Mass.) walked, Caughey singled up the middle to bring home Marchant and Moody to make the score 5-1.

The Rams added three more in the bottom of the third to put the game out of reach and up their advantage to seven, 8-1. With runners on second and third, Marchant lined an RBI single to right which scored junior Lauren Salisbury (Cranston, RI). Sophomore Kirsten Dick (Tewksbuy, Mass.) then scored on a fielder's choice and Downing drove in Desrochers on a single through the left side for the Rams' eighth run of the game.

UMass-Boston would get three back in the top of the fifth on an RBI single to center by Pawlina and a two-run double down the left field line to cut the deficit to four, 8-4. However, Gunarathne set down the Beacons 1-2-3 in both the top of the sixth and the top of the seventh to secure the win for the Rams and move them into a second elimination game against Tufts later this afternoon.